Shopping the Turnpike

I think I'll get the Sailor Moon stuff out of the way first. It seems that Usagi and friends are still champions when it comes to generating merchandise. Where should I start? The has Sailor Moon cake decorations ($7), little plastic statues that are meant for a cake but would also work in a diorama. Or you can bop your enemies on the head with a $5 inflatable "Sitting Moon Hammer". $10 gets you the "Mars Castle". The picture is blurry, but it appears to be some kind of kiddie karaoke machine shaped like a castle. (Ten dollars seems a little cheap for something like that, but the box appears to say "Karaoke" all over it.) The Sailor Moon sunglasses ($5) look really weird, and aren't even an import. I'm having trouble imagining how these things actually look when worn by someone.

More Sailor Moon stuff can be found at . $7.99 will get you a Sailor Moon "gyro ball", some spherical metal job that you launch and spin. The only aspect of it that has anything to do with Sailor Moon appears to be the packaging, but it still looks like fun. For $11.99, you can have a Sailor Moon "grand" (hee hee) piano, actually a tiny electronic toy with Chibi-Moon on it. Chibi-Moon and Sailor Moon are also depicted on the $29.99 "Punchy Fighter" toy, an inflatable punching bag. I think many will agree with me that thirty bucks is a miniscule price to pay for the pleasure of socking Chibi-Moon in the mouth. Last but not least, for the really cheap gift, check out the $1.99 finger puppets in the "figurines" section.

And for still more Sailor Moon junk, next we visit the . A "puzzle clock", a domestic item from the look of the logo, can be yours for $24.90. Have fun assembling the jigsaw puzzle, then turn it into a clock and have hours more fun staring at it on the wall. Actually, as I browse this site, it appears none of the merchandise is imported, which makes the sheer amount of merchandise all the more amazing. How about Sailor Moon beanies in pink or blue ($15.90)? There's an entire section devoted to "Storage Boxes". Lunchboxes range from $9.90 - $12.90. Three different Sailor Moon trash cans are available ($6.50), suitable for the temporary storage of worthless waste material, or to store your Sailor Moon merchandise, which could be said to be the same thing.

Aaah! More Sailor Moon crap, some of it even edible! At , a store devoted primarily to T-shirts and posters, the "one-of-a-kind items" section has candy. Yes, little decorative tins ($5) containing individually wrapped candy hearts. But hey, if you really need candy, go for the bucket ($30) and shovel it into your face by the handful! This site also offers an ironically-named Sailor Moon "Beauty Clock" ($20), with a musical alarm. If you need to know why I consider the name ironic, take a look at it. offers something I never would have considered a "collectible": cans of Heinz Sailor Moon pasta ($3). Only 11 cans of this rare item remained at the time I browsed.

On the subject of things edible, you really should check out , listed on the Turnpike under its old name of "Pockotaku". This site offers everything from the inarguably delicious "Meiji Yan Yan" ($1.10) to the why-would-anyone-want-to-put-this-in-their-mouth "Tea Candy" ($2), hard candies with the taste of tea. You have to search around a bit, as it seems much of their selection is out of stock, but you're sure to find something curious to try, like "Botan Rice Candy" ($1) with its edible wrapper (I've had this) or "Roasted Wasabi Hot Green Peas" ($2).

Up to this point, all the items I've highlighted have been, for the most part, inexpensive. For those with a lot more money to burn, as well as a love of giant robots, offers hard-to-find giant robot toys and models. I have a friend who's nuts about Gao Gai Gar, so I checked the "Robot Toys" section for that anime. Prices for toys ranged from $30 to $190. If you have $900 to spare, there's a mint condition diecast toy of the Starship Yamato. It's described as "12 inches long and very heavy". For $900, it better be.

has some great pictures of toys based on more contempory mecha, those from Macross Plus. I'd heard these were on the way, but this is the best collection of pictures of the YF-19 and YF-21 transformable fighter toys I've yet seen. Unfortunately, the toys are only offered for preorder.

Most of the merchandise one sees for sale is for children, of course. has a couple of items for sale that buck this trend. These are some items created by Dark Horse awhile back and are for those adult pastimes of smokin' and drinkin'. Light up a stogie with your Gunsmith Cats Zippo lighter ($26.98), then knock back some Jack Daniels with your Gunsmith Cats shot glass set ($18.98). All that's missing are Gunsmith Cats guns. I'm sure Dark Horse will bring those out soon. In the "anime plush toys" section, the site offers a Ryo-oh-ki backpack ($22.50), which essentially lets you wear a giant Ryo-oh-ki on your back and stuff things in his carcass. Cute, if a tad disturbing. They also have the full-scale plush Mokona doll for $28.95. Cuddle it if you like Mokona, kick it around the room if you don't. Pu pu-puuu!

I almost forgot! There is one more Sailor Moon site to mention. is unique in that everything available on the site is the creation of the fans who made the site. Items for sale include custom-made paper dolls ($12.99), oil paintings ($50), handmade UFO catchers ($35 - $100, depending upon size), and resin models ($100 - $200, assembled and painted). I think the coolest product offered has to be the custom-sewn costumes. Tell the site's resident seamstress your measurements and the character you wish to become and she'll make a costume for you. The site has plenty of pictures of the costumes being modeled, so you know what you'll be getting. Prices tend to fall between $100 and $200, although costumes that look more like normal clothes can be had for less. These costumes are available for a wide variety of anime, not just Sailor Moon. If you've ever fantasized about cosplaying, but can't sew to save your life, give this site a look.

is home to a plethora of anime merchandise, much of which I would never have imagined. My favorite has got to be the Jubei-chan the Ninja Girl bicycle bell ($12.95). There's a series I never figured for merchandising. Ever heard of "Arm Mascots" ($13.00)? They're these inflatable arm bands with anime characters, kind of like water wings, only not for swimming. Or how about a Saber Marionette J bandanna ($14.00)? It's yellow, with a picture of (who else?) Lime. For the Nadesico fan, you can set your drinks on a set of Ruri-chan coasters ($4.00). Here's something weird: "Doki Doki Cards" ($2 - $3), collectible cards with a "love meter" on the back, which I would guess is a patch which measures the temperature of the finger. I could just go on and on about this site. There's an Oh My Goddess! "First Aid Kit" ($12.95), a tin for storing bandages that (of course) features Nurse Urd on the front. An Angel Links "Calling Card Case" ($14.95) that holds business cards and comes with some collectable cards for the anime. A Love Hina travel case ($28.35), complete with soap, toothbrush, and toothpaste. I give up. Listing all the cool stuff here would take all day.

A few more curious offerings:

I got a ton more letters than I did the previous month,
so I guess I'd better get to answering them, huh?